Romans 6:1 – What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
Romans 6:2 – By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Romans 6:1 So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? (Message Bible)
Romans 6:2 I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? (Message Bible)
Jesus died so that we can find forgiveness for our sins. The death of Jesus happened only once, yet before that death and after that death people were sinning and keep sinning. How did Jesus’s death bring forgiveness to those who lived before His death? How does the death of Jesus in the past grant us forgiveness?
In the past before Jesus died on the cross, repentant sinners were required to sacrifice an animal (many times a lamb). This lamb represented Jesus who would in future come to die for their sins. Therefore they accepted the death of Jesus by faith.
John 1:29 – The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Every lamb that died before Jesus died on the cross, represented Jesus who later on came to die for the whole world. When sinners demonstrated repentance by killing a lamb or any other animal, they were demonstrating faith in the coming death of Jesus as being sufficient to grant them forgiveness. Therefore, the death of Jesus addressed all repented sins before the cross.
Only repented sins are forgiven. No one receives forgiveness unless they repent. The sinner himself or herself needs to repent. You cannot repent on behalf of another person. You can’t live in sin and expect that when you die in sin without repentance, that other people will repent for you, no! It is only the sinners repentance that is acceptable.
Praying for the dead has no effect. You can’t repent on behalf of the dead who refused to repent when they were alive. If you die before repentance you are doomed forever, hell is your everlasting portion. Since we can die suddenly, we should live a constant life of repentance. It is careless and foolish to plan to repent last minute before you die, because nobody knows if the manner of their death will allow such an opportunity.
Job 1:5 – When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
This is an isolated text suggesting that someone prayed for the sins of another. However, before rushing into conclusions on using the text to suggest that our repentance for others can work, take note of the following. We don’t use isolated texts to make final conclusions on doctrine matters. Job didn’t pray for dead children, but living children. The text doesn’t suggest that the children were absent in the sacrifice. The fact that Job waited for the period of feasting to end, could be suggestive that he was waiting for them to participate in the repentance sacrifice. Job was the head of the family and he was leading in group repentance worship session. In group repentance the individuals present get forgiven for personally participating in the group to seek personal forgiveness. When Job’s children died (Job 1:18-19) he didn’t pray for their forgiveness because they were dead and couldn’t participate and because you can’t repent on behalf of someone else.
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus’ death was enough to also forgive future sins. Whoever in future believes that Jesus died for him or her, will be forgiven and assured eternal life. “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That means the death of Jesus covered the entire future after the cross.
Any sinner who acknowledges today that Jesus died for me and therefore I plead for forgiveness, gets forgiven instantly. Faith in the past death of Jesus grants us today forgiveness. For those who existed before Jesus died on the cross, sacrificed animals to show faith in the coming death of Jesus. Before the cross they had faith in the coming death. After the cross we have faith in the past death of Jesus. Everyone is saved by faith and faith alone!
Hebrews 6:4 – It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
Hebrews 6:5 – who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age
Hebrews 6:6 – and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
When we sun and repent, the death of Jesus in the past is enough to grant us forgiveness. However, when we backslide and reject what we had beloved when we became Christians, we are rejecting the death of Jesus that granted us forgiveness. It is like we are demanding Jesus dies again to save us. We are crucifying Jesus again. That is why backsliders who knew the truth and faith but walked away are in a more dangerous spiritual state than those who haven’t repented at all. Backsliders be warned and run back!
Romans 6:1 – What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
Romans 6:2 – By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
While the death of Jesus covers past and future sins of those who repent, does it mean we keep sinning since we are already forgiven? The Bible answers by saying, no, we should not sin because Jesus already died to forgive us. That would be backsliding that we have been warned that it may be difficult to forgive.
Jude 1:4 – For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
The death of Jesus for all future sinners is not a license for us to keep sinning. Jesus died for sins we are yet to commit, but that is not a license for us to commit sin. That is what is referred to as perverting God’s grace to be a license for committing sin.
Romans 7:15 – I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
We are sinners and we find ourselves sinning against our wish. We get tempted and intentionally sin against our wish. After sinning we feel guilty and seek forgiveness. For such sins Jesus died and when we repent, we get forgiveness. Repentance is a condition.
Those who get forgiveness are also gradually empowered to overcome sin and become God’s children. As many times as we struggle to overcome sin and temptations to sin intentionally we get forgiveness. Which is different from sinning with a plan to repent.
I may intentionally steal because I am tempted to grow rich by theft. I know it’s wrong. My desire for wealth compels me and I steal. Then I feel guilty, so guilty afterwards and I repent. I will get forgiveness. That is different from planning to steal and planning to repent. Using the opportunity to repent as a license to steal. That is perverting God’s grace!
Repentance is a condition for forgiveness. May God lead us to genuine repentance. May God save us from sinning with a plan to repent, as if repentance is a license for wrong doing. In Jesus’s name, Amen!
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Amen and Amen.
” If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
1 John 1:9
Amen. Now I know.
Thank you for every morning blessings.
The take away from this write up is that Christians sustain their salvation by repentance. It has been taught that Christian’s life is that of a constant daily repentance. Failure of which they run a risk of losing their salvation. This implies that our salvation depends on our repentance. Yesterday’s repentance is not enough for today’s sins. They say if you repented Yesterday and sins today and forgets to repent you are damned to hell.
The above is not the Gospel. It is a well designed sin maintenance program for legalists. Yes they that teach such are legalists. Legalists think that their repentance keeps them in the line of salvation. They are ready to pour fear on those whom they think are not doing enough to maintain their salvation. This is the reason they sell self improvement programs such as constant daily repentance, prayers, fasting, tithing and offering, church attendance and such religious activities means of salvation or closeness with God. They say that if you want to be closer to God or maintain your relationship you need to do ABCs.
But the Gospel is simple. Christ death, burial and ressurection have taken care of our sins. He died so that our sins, all of it,can be forgiven. He was resurrected so that we may have new life in Him. Because of Christ death, the penalty for our sins have been fully paid once for all. And because of His ressurection we have got His life in us.
Through one offering of His blood He made us perfect forever for all time. Before God we stand blameless and guiltless. Our status and identity don’t change. Not even when we sin. This is because all our sins have been taken care of by the blood of Christ. At this point the grace confused person will think that I saying we can sin anyhow. He will throw in that” grace is not a license to sin” statement as if we need a license to sin.
Repentance ( Metanoia) simply means changing your mind or changing your inner man. Repentance in the Gospel term means to change your view that you can never save yourself from sin but there is one who can do that for you. Self-righteous people must repent to be saved. All of us before we became Christians repented of our inability to save ourselves. And by that act we received the forgiveness of sins. When we did that a complete new creation happened to us. We were freed from sin by dying to it and we received a new heart that is created after God. And since then we are living the life of Christ. We stand no condemned. We are perfect, holy and complete before the Father. These we have received by faith because of what Christ has done. Yes we sin a times like anyone else. But we don’t buy God’s forgiveness by repentance. It was done long time ago at the cross of Calvary. The only thing God wants for forgiveness is shedding of blood and that is what Christ did. Sins are not forgiven by merely saying a praying or sorrowing over them. Sins are forgiven by shedding blood. When we have faith in Christ we receive the forgiveness. Yes, that is what we did. We now have it forever. No more blood sacrifices for forgiveness.
The Gospel gives us peace and assurance. If we die to day our Salvation is secured. We don’t lose our Salvation because we forgot to repent asany grace confused preachers preach. No, we are saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever.
The take away from this write up is that Christians sustain their salvation by repentance. It has been taught that Christian’s life is that of a constant daily repentance. Failure of which they run a risk of losing their salvation. This implies that our salvation depends on our repentance. Yesterday’s repentance is not enough for today’s sins. They say if you repented Yesterday and sins today and forgets to repent you are damned to hell.If you repented an hour ago then you sin thirty minutes later and dies in the 31st minute you are destined to hell.
The above is not the Gospel but a fear spinning model well choreographed to keep believers on line. It is a well designed sin maintenance program for legalists. Yes, they that teach such are legalists. Legalists think that their repentance keeps them in the line of salvation. They are ready to pour fear on those whom they think are not doing enough to maintain their salvation. This is the reason they sell self-improvement programs such as constant daily repentance, prayers, fasting, tithing and offering, church attendance and such religious activities as means of salvation or closeness with God. They say that if you want to be closer to God or maintain your relationship you need to do ABCs.
But the Gospel is simple: Christ death, burial and ressurection have taken care of our sins. He died so that our sins, all of it can be forgiven. He was resurrected so that we may have new life in Him. Because of Christ’s death, the penalty for our sins is fully paid once for all. And because of His ressurection we have got His life in us.
Through one offering of His blood He made us perfect forever for all time. Before God we stand blameless and guiltless. Our status and identity don’t change. Not even when we sin. This is because all our sins have been taken care of by the blood of Christ. At this point the grace confused person will think that I am suggesting
that we can go on sinning anyhow. He will throw in that” grace is not a license to sin” statement as if we need a license to sin. Grace confused preachers don’t understand that we have died to sin. Sin is no longer our master. We are now slaves of righteousness.
Repentance ( Metanoia) simply means changing your mind or changing your inner man. Repentance in the Gospel term means to change your view that you can never save yourself from sin by self-righteousness but there is one who can do that for you. Self-righteous people must repent to be saved. All of us before we became Christians repented of our inability to save ourselves. And by that act we received the forgiveness of sins. When we did that a complete new creation happened to us. We were freed from sin by dying to it and we received a new heart that is created after Christ. And since then we are living the life of Christ. We stand not condemned. We are perfect, holy and complete before the Father. These we have received by faith because of what Christ has done. Yes we sin a times like anyone else. But we don’t buy God’s forgiveness by repentance. It was done long time ago at the cross of Calvary. The only thing God wants for forgiveness is shedding of blood and that is what Christ did. Sins are not forgiven by merely saying a prayer or sorrowing over them. Sins are forgiven by shedding of blood. When we have faith in Christ we receive the forgiveness. Yes, that is what we did. We now have it forever. No more blood sacrifices for forgiveness.
The Gospel gives us peace and assurance. If we die to day our Salvation is secured. We don’t lose our Salvation because we forgot to repent as grace confused preachers teach. No, we are saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever.
That is the beauty of the Gospel.